JPH076733B2 - Deodorizer such as refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a deodorizing device such as a refrigerator for removing odorous components contained in air in a refrigerator or the like.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a refrigerator, when an odor is generated from the food stored in the refrigerator, there is a problem that the odor is filled in the refrigerator or adheres to other foods.

In order to solve such a problem, there are the following conventionally. That is, for example, using an adsorbent such as activated carbon,
The adsorbent adsorbs and removes the odorous components contained in the indoor air, or is equipped with an ozone generator and a catalyst, and the ozone generated from the ozone generator reacts with the odorous components of the indoor air. , The odorous components are oxidatively decomposed and removed, and the residual ozone is decomposed and removed by a catalyst.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, of the above-mentioned ones, the former one only adsorbs odorous components by the adsorbent and has a limited adsorption capacity of the adsorbent, so that the life of the deodorizing function is short. There is a drawback that. On the other hand, the latter one has a drawback that the structure is complicated as a whole because it requires an ozone generator and also needs a catalyst for decomposing the rest of ozone harmful to the human body.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a deodorizing device such as a refrigerator having a long deodorizing function life, a simple structure, and high deodorizing efficiency.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is arranged in a circulation path through which air in a refrigerator or the like circulates, adsorbs an odor component, and is heated to oxidize and decompose the odor component. A deodorizing member, a heater that is provided in the vicinity of the deodorizing member and that controls the electrical connection and disconnection to heat the deodorizing member, and a cover that is provided so as to cover the opposite side of the deodorizing member to the heater side, This cover is provided with a plurality of holding claws provided on the cover and holding the deodorizing member at a plurality of locations.

(Operation) When the air passing through the circulation path comes into contact with the deodorizing member, the odorous component contained in the air is adsorbed by the deodorizing member. Then, when the heater is energized and the deodorizing member is heated by the heater, the odorous components adsorbed in the deodorizing member are desorbed, oxidized, decomposed and removed.
The adsorbing function of the heated desorbing member is regenerated by desorbing the adsorbed odorous component.

According to this, the adsorption function of the deodorizing member is regenerated by the heating of the heater, and therefore, the life of the desorption function is long unlike the case of simply adsorbing. Moreover, the structure is simpler than that using an ozone generator. In addition, since the desorption member is held at a plurality of places by the plurality of holding claws, the deodorizing member can be held without hiding the surface thereof. Therefore, it becomes possible to secure a large exposed surface of the desorption member, so that a large contact area with the air containing the odorous component can be secured and the adsorption efficiency is good, and the heating efficiency by the heater is also good, and the odor caused by the heating Desorption and oxidative decomposition of components are efficiently performed.

(Embodiment) A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a refrigerator will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, in FIG. 4, 1 is a refrigerator main body, and 2 and 3
Is a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment formed therein, and 4 and 5 are doors, respectively. Reference numeral 6 denotes a cooler arranged in the cooler room 7 at the back of the freezing room 2, and 8 denotes a fan arranged above the cooler 6. When the fan 8 is driven, part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied from the supply port 9 into the freezer compartment 2, and the air in the freezer compartment 2 is passed through the return duct 10 to the cooler compartment. 7, the inside of the freezing compartment 2 is cooled by being circulated so as to be returned to the inside 7, and a part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied to the inside of the refrigeration compartment 3 through the supply duct 11 and then the refrigeration compartment. The air in the refrigerating chamber 3 is cooled by being circulated such that the air in the refrigerating chamber 3 is returned to the cooler chamber 7 via the return duct 12. In this case, therefore, the cooler room 7, the freezing room 2 and the return duct 10 constitute a circulation path through which the air in the freezing room 2 circulates, and the cooler room 7, the supply duct
11, the refrigerating compartment 3 and the return duct 12 constitute a circulation path through which the air in the refrigerating compartment 3 circulates.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a defrosting heater, which is a heater disposed below the cooler 6 in the lower part of the cooler chamber 7, and is a glass tube having a heater wire 13b provided in the glass tube 13a as shown in FIG. It is composed of a heater, and energization is controlled only when the cooler 6 is defrosted, and the rest is cut off. 14
Is a laterally long cover provided on the defrost heater 13 so as to cover the defrost heater 13 from above. This cover is made of, for example, a heat-resistant and water-resistant metal plate such as aluminum. Of defrosting water on the defrosting heater 13 during defrosting.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a holding member provided on the inner surface of the cover 14 by spot welding or the like, which is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, such as a metal plate such as aluminum, as shown in FIG. A plurality of holding claws 16 each having an L-shape, in this case 5 pairs, are formed.
17 is formed by cutting and raising.

Reference numeral 18 denotes four desorbents in the shape of a rectangular plate, which are an adsorbent layer 18a made of an adsorbent such as activated carbon or silica (silicon dioxide), and platinum provided on the surface of the adsorbent layer 18a. Alternatively, it has a two-layer structure with the catalyst layer 18b made of nickel or the like. Here, the deodorant body 18 forms a plate-shaped adsorbent layer 18a by sintering an adsorbent, and the adsorbent layer 18a is immersed in a solution of the catalyst to adhere the catalyst to the surface and then heated. The catalyst layer 18b is formed on the surface of the adsorbent layer 18a by treatment. Further, each of the adsorbent layer 18a and the catalyst layer 18b has a porous shape so that air can flow inside. Reference numeral 19 denotes a wire net having a U-shaped cross section provided so as to cover the deodorizer 18, and the wire net 19 and the deodorizer 18 constitute a deodorizing member 20, and the deodorizing member 20 is used as described later. Each holding claw 16 of the holding member 15
Is held by. In addition, 21 is a holding member 15 and a deodorizer 18
It is a heat insulating material made of glass fiber or the like disposed between and.

Thus, in order to assemble the deodorizing member 20 to the holding member 15,
As shown in FIG. 3, with the cover 14 facing upward, first, the heat insulating material 21 is arranged on the holding member 15, and then the four deodorizing bodies 18 are positioned between the holding claws 16. They are arranged on the heat insulating material 21 in a state of being separated from each other. At this time, the end faces of the deodorizing bodies 18 on both the left and right sides are brought into contact with the restriction pieces 17. Then, the wire net 19 is covered so as to cover each deodorant body 17,
In this state, each holding claw 16 is bent inward to press the metal net 19, so that the deodorizing member 20 including the deodorizing body 18 and the metal net 19 is held and fixed by each holding claw 16 at a plurality of positions. With the deodorizing member 20 assembled in this manner, the deodorizing member 20 is directed downward as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and both ends of the cover 14 are attached to the defrosting heater 13 by screws or the like. The deodorizing member 20 is arranged above the defrosting heater 13, and the upper surface on the side opposite to the defrosting heater 13 side is covered with a cover 14. At this time, the lower surface of the wire netting 19 is in contact with the defrost heater 13.

Now, in the above configuration, during cooling operation of the refrigerator, the air in the refrigerator is circulated through the cooler chamber 7, the freezing chamber 2 and the return duct 10 by the blowing action of the fan 8.
Cooler room 7, supply duct 11, refrigerating room 3 and return duct 1
Circulated through 2. At this time, the air passing through the inside of the cooler chamber 7 comes into contact with each deodorant body 18 through the wire net 19, and the odorous component contained in the air is adsorbed by the adsorbent layer 18a of each deodorant body 18 and removed.

When the operation cumulative time of the compressor (not shown) reaches a predetermined value, the operation of the compressor and the fan 8 is stopped, while the defrost heater 13 is energized to start the defrost operation of the cooler 6. Due to the heat generated by the defrosting heater 13, the cooler 6 is heated to perform defrosting, and the deodorizing member 20 is also heated. In this case, each deodorizer 18 is heated by directly receiving the radiant heat of the defrosting heater 13, is also heated by heat conduction through the wire net 19, and is also heated by the reflected heat reflected by the cover 14. By doing
It will be heated to the highest temperature as uniformly as possible. Further, at this time, since the holding claws 16 do not cover the deodorizing body 18, the holding claws 16 do not hinder the heating of the deodorizing body 18. In the heated deodorizer 18, the odor component adsorbed by the adsorbent of the adsorbent layer 18a is desorbed, and at the same time, the odor component is oxidatively decomposed and removed in the catalyst layer 18b. Then, the deodorizing body 18 is heated in this way, so that the adsorption function, that is, the deodorizing function is reproduced. At this time, the cover 14 plays a role of efficiently confining the heat from the defrosting heater 13 to heat the deodorizing body 18 efficiently, and the deodorizing body 18 and the defrosting heater 13 are defrosted from the cooler 6. Prevents water from splashing. The heat insulating material 21 suppresses the heat of the deodorizing body 18 from radiating from the cover 14, and
The heat shock of the deodorant body 18 due to the defrosting water falling on the cover 14 and the cover 14 being rapidly cooled is prevented.

When the temperature of the cooler 6 becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined defrosting end temperature, the defrosting heater 13 is cut off and the defrosting operation ends.
Then, when the compressor and the fan 8 are energized and the cooling operation is restarted, the odorous components contained in the air in the refrigerator are adsorbed and removed by the deodorizing body 18 as described above.

According to the above-described embodiment, the deodorant body 18 has a deodorizing function regenerated by heating the defrosting heater 13, so that the deodorizing function has a long life, unlike the case where it is simply adsorbed by an adsorbent.
Needless to say, this deodorizing device has a simpler structure than that using an ozone generator. Moreover, according to this, since the deodorizing body 18 is not covered with the holding claws 16 and the surfaces other than the upper surface are exposed, the area in contact with the air in the refrigerator is large and the odorous components are efficiently adsorbed. Further, the deodorizing body 18 is not hindered from being heated by the holding claws 16 when being heated by the defrosting heater 13, so that the heating efficiency is good, and the deodorizing and oxidative decomposition of the odorous components are efficiently performed. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the defrosting heater 13 is used as a heater for heating the deodorizing body 18, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to separately provide a dedicated heater.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
It differs from the embodiment in the following points. That is, 22 is the cover 14
A plurality of holding claws 23 are formed on the front and rear side edges of the holding member attached to the inner surface of the holding member 23, and the front ends of the front and rear holding claws 23 are connected by connecting portions 24, 24. A deodorizing member 25 is a deodorizing member and has a long rectangular shape. Thus, in this case, the deodorant body 25 is held and fixed at a plurality of places by the plurality of holding claws 23. The second embodiment as described above also has substantially the same operational effects as the first embodiment.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to each of the above-described embodiments, for example, the heater for heating the deodorizing member is not limited to the defrost heater 13, but a dedicated heater is provided, and this heater is preferably defrosted. It is also possible to perform the on / off control in synchronization with the heater 13. Further, the deodorant does not have to have a two-layer structure, but may have a single-layer structure in which, for example, an adsorbent and a catalyst are mixed and bonded and solidified.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the deodorizing device of the present invention is
A deodorizing member that oxidizes and decomposes the odorous component by absorbing and heating the odorous component, a heater that heats the deodorizing member, a cover that covers the opposite side of the deodorizing member from the heater side, and this cover are provided. Since the deodorizing member is composed of a plurality of holding claws that hold the deodorizing member at a plurality of positions, the structure is simple, and the adsorption function of the deodorizing member is regenerated by heating, so that the deodorizing function has a long life. In addition, since the deodorizing member is held at a plurality of positions by a plurality of holding claws, the exposed area of the deodorizing member can be increased, and thus the contact area with air can be increased and the adsorption efficiency can be improved.
The heating efficiency by the heater is good, and the excellent effect that the desorption and oxidative decomposition of the odorous components can be efficiently performed is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical side view of a main part, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, FIG. 4 is a vertical side view of the upper part of the refrigerator, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled part of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, 1 is a refrigerator main body, 6 is a cooler, 7 is a cooler chamber (circulation path), 13 is a defrost heater (heater), 14 is a cover,
Reference numeral 16 is a holding claw, 18 is a deodorant, 18a is an adsorbent layer, 18b is a catalyst layer, 19 is a wire mesh, 20 is a deodorizing member, 23 is a holding claw, and 25 is a deodorizing member (deodorizing member).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A deodorizing member disposed in a circulation path for circulating air in a refrigerator or the like to adsorb an odor component and heated to oxidize and decompose the odor component, and a deodorizing member provided in the vicinity of the deodorizing member. A heater for heating and heating the deodorizing member under the control of electrical connection and disconnection, a cover provided to cover the side of the deodorizing member opposite to the heater side, and the deodorizing member provided on the cover and held at a plurality of positions A deodorizing device such as a refrigerator, which is provided with a plurality of holding claws.